


by any other name (jingleheimer schmidt remix)

by retweet_this



Category: Crooked Media RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-07 13:57:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16409762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/retweet_this/pseuds/retweet_this
Summary: To say that ‘Drama’ was Lovett’s favorite part of Drama Club was a gross understatement





	by any other name (jingleheimer schmidt remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cinderlily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/gifts).
  * Inspired by [and I knew you meant it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12663507) by [cinderlily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily). 



To say that ‘Drama’ was Lovett’s favorite part of Drama Club was a gross understatement. And it’s not _just_ because he’s gay, no matter what Ronan and Spencer say. He’s actually a good actor completely on merit.

It’s just maybe the ‘Club’ part that he’s having trouble with. Sure, yeah, he can do all his scenes and sometimes improvise catchy one-liners, but there’s a reason he’s not the Jon given all the major roles. He’s not the Jon that finds it easy to go up to people and casually start a conversation that leads to a burgeoning friendship.

No, that particular honor goes to the Jon with the AP classes and the gap-toothed smile and the Kennedy-esque aura.

“Which Kennedy?” Spencer asks. “Because if it’s like Ted then, you know…”

“Obviously not Ted.” Lovett swats his arm, rolling his eyes when he laughs. “I have some semblance of standards.”

Ronan doesn’t even look up from his phone to respond. “Two words – Tim Miller.”

Sometimes Lovett hates his friends. Of course, that anger lasts all the way until they leave to do their own thing and he’s stuck in line alone at a McDonald’s because his mom is running late. Which, to be honest, probably doesn’t justify him butting into a conversation he has no business butting into.

“Or maybe you burst into song, one of the ones from that one musical –”

“Which musical?” Lovett steps over to the table and three pairs of eyes watch his every mood. Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor look welcoming enough, but Jon’s arm suddenly flails and he drops his empty shake on its side.

“Lovett,” he blinks. “You’re… what are you doing here?”

Lovett looks around. “Is – is that a trick question? Is this one of your debate tactics? Trying to catch me off guard?”

Tommy snorts a little into his soda, grinning up at him. “You wanna eat with us?” He looks over at Jon, who seems to still be recovering from whatever fit he was having earlier.

“Sure,” Lovett shrugs. “My mom’s gonna be a while, anyway.” Dan scoots to the side so he can slip in right beside him, and there’s a short silence as he unfurls his bag to pull out his fries. “So, uh, what musical were you guys talking about?”

“Just – you know – the one we’re prepping for,” Jon says quickly. “They didn’t believe me when I said High School Musical was now a real actual play.”

“Oh, yeah, neither did the chorus kids.” Lovett chuckles. “Though I’m surprised you couldn’t Troy Bolton your way to the lead.” He gestures his head. “Did you guys know the only thing this guy can’t do is act?”

Dan looks from Lovett to Jon’s flushed pink face and back. “Yeah,” he hums. “Yeah, I kinda figured.”

*

 **Spencer:** so is it ted kennedy or bobby kennedy?

 **Ronan:** ted would be more interesting, tbh

i hate both of you

 **Ronan:** no you don’t

 **Ronan:** did you two make eye contact and suddenly burst into song?

 **Spencer:** to the tune of john jacob jingleheimer schmidt

 **Ronan:** his name is my name too

 **Spencer:** whenever we go out

 **Ronan:** the people always shout

how do i delete myself from this group chat

 **Spencer:** dadadada da da da da

*

The unfortunate part of Drama Club is that, because of the terrible school system they have, it doubles as Drama _Class_. Some days, Tapper just throws a bullshit worksheet at them and they pretend to work for the hour but other times it’s, you know, actual work.

There’s a bootleg of the MTV version of Legally Blonde that they’re supposed to be taking notes on or something, but Lovett leans to his side and taps Jon on the shoulder. His eyes, lit up by the projector, widen as he looks over at him.

“Hi,” Lovett whispers.

Jon looks around, biting his lip. “We’re not supposed to be talking.”

Lovett rolls his eyes. “Oh, come on, Favreau, it’s not like anyone else is watching. Besides, it’s all on YouTube anyway.”

He still looks a little concerned, looking at Tapper sitting behind his desk and texting on his phone, before he finally sets his pen down and gives a shy sort of smile. “All right, fine, you’ve won me over to the Dark Side.”

“Next thing you know, I’ll be encouraging you to skip classes and sit around in the bathroom for an hour instead,” Lovett jokes. He grins a little when Jon covers his mouth to stifle a chuckle. “So, Jon, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“If you’re so bad at acting, why did you take this as an elective?” Jon immediately looks sheepish and Lovett quickly adds, “I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I mean, I’m not in here for the acting, I’m just gay and I like drama.”

Jon shrugs. “I – I just needed something extra to round out my resume, you know? It can’t all be writing speeches all day long.”

“Isn’t half of it also debate?”

“Yeah, it is,” the corners of Jon’s mouth quirk as he continues, “but I’m not nearly as good at that as I am at the writing part. I love writing. Mr. Axelrod’s been helping me get my prose down sometimes.”

Lovett furrows his brow. “Hang on, do you have Axe for English? Because he’s always ranting about this one guy’s political essays all the time and…” The way Jon looks down and away from him should be answer enough, but he’s not able to interrogate further when the classroom lights finally turn on.

“Okay, this seems like a good place to stop,” Tapper says, shutting off the projector. “So, since we’re going to be working on the school play soon, I’ve decided to push the next exam up.” He pauses to let the class collectively groan. “To tomorrow.”

“Split into pairs, one of you will perform Romeo’s monologue in Act Two, Scene Two, and one of you will perform Juliet’s. The sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board outside the door.”

Brian lets out a loud scoff. “You’re expecting us to memorize all that dialogue by _tomorrow_?”

Tapper crosses his arms. “Do you want to be an actor, Mr. Beutler?”

“No, I’m just taking this because I couldn’t get this period off.”

“Oh. Well, whatever.” He shakes his head. “Besides, you should have had this memorized for the last exam, anyway.” Up in the front row, a hand shoots up and Tapper inclines his head. “Yes, Mr. Sasse?”

“We’ve got practice tonight and tomorrow for the football game, Mr. Tapper.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” Tapper nods. “Football players can make up their exam on Monday.”

In the seat in front of Lovett, Alexandria’s hand shoots up. “Sir, the cheerleaders also have their practice and –”

“I’m sorry, Miss Ocasio-Cortez, but as the syllabus says, you need a doctor’s note if you wish for an exam extension.”

“But you _literally_ just –” Her voice gets cut off by the sound of the bell and there’s a mad scramble to the door. Lovett gives her a grimace on his way out and by the time he manages to get into the hallway, there’s only Jon staring at the sign-up sheet, pen in hand, looking pensive.

Lovett leans up to snatch the pen from his hand and scribbles in their names on the front line. _Jon Lovett + Jon Favreau._ “You don’t mind, do you?” he asks, only after he’s capped the pen.

Jon’s smiling, but it slowly falters as he considers what’s just been done. “Well,” he says, “um, I don’t want to weigh you down…”

“I was kidding when I said you were a bad actor,” Lovett says quickly. “You’re just… well…”

“Bad?” Jon offers.

“You’re the writer and you couldn’t think of a synonym for bad?” The tension eases out of Jon as he laughs, smiling down at Lovett with that smile of his. It is really a cute smile. Lovett clears his throat. “My, uh, parents won’t be home until, like, eight. You could come by and we could practice for a bit, if you want?”

“That… that sounds good,” Jon nods slowly. “I’ll, um, text my mom and let her know.”

“Good,” Lovett nods. “I’ll see you in the parking lot after school.”

Jon starts smiling again. “See you then.”

*

i just made a huge mistake

 **Ronan:** oh boy

 **Spencer:** this better be impt, i’m supposed to be studying for chem

i just invited jon favreau to my house while my parents are out

 **Spencer:** ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 **Ronan:** damn

 **Ronan:** so all the times you said you weren’t interested in him, those were all lies, yes?

 **Spencer:** ^^^

 **Ronan:** i mean i figured but it’s good to have hard evidence

why do i tell you two anything

 **Ronan:** be careful

?

 **Ronan:** you know what happened at Chappaquiddick

ok im logging off now

*

When Lovett comes out into the parking lot and sees Jon laughing with Tommy, giving him this huge and ridiculous grin, he thinks he may have completely misjudged the situation. And then a brunette walks over to them and Tommy kisses her cheek and Lovett ignores the way he relaxes because he was _definitely not_ expecting anything to happen between him and Jon on this trip.

Definitely not.

Jon spots him as he starts walking over and somehow his grin grows even wider. “Hey!”

“Hi,” Lovett smiles. The girl – Hanna, he recognizes, from standing this close to her – smiles back and leans into Tommy’s arm around her.

“Hey,” he hums, “we were going to get milkshakes over at McDonald’s, you two wanna come?”

Jon turns to Lovett expectantly and Lovett shrugs, “Sure,” and finds himself squished between a window and one of Jon’s absurdly buff arms in a tiny booth.

Hanna and Tommy might be sitting right across from them but they’re wrapped up in their own little world to pay much attention to anyone else.

“Hey,” Lovett says, turning to Jon. “You ever try dipping your French fries in your milkshake?” He doesn’t wait for him to respond, just watches him open his mouth and deposits one right between his lips.

Jon chews, blinking slowly. “Oh., that’s… not bad.” He smiles. “I might come here often but I don’t really eat out that much.”

“Well I eat out all the time, so, you know,” Lovett shrugs, “just stick with me.”

“Okay.” Jon’s gap tooth is stark against his pearly white teeth and Lovett wonders how this guy is still single.

Hanna suddenly speaks up and they both turn toward her, and Lovett tries not to think about the weird feeling in his stomach and how he’s suddenly very aware of how close they’re sitting.

*

“Okay, stop,” Lovett waves his arms around. “You’re just – reading your lines.”

Jon frowns as he looks up from his phone. “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to be doing?”

“Well… yeah, in theory,” Lovett concedes. “But your performance is just so…” He crosses his arms. “Okay, do you remember the balcony scene from the movie?”

“What movie?”

“You know, _the_ movie – wait.” Lovett bites his lip. No, no, there’s no way. “Wait… have you never seen the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo and Juliet?”

Jon blinks. “The what who now?”

Lovett drops his phone into his pocket. “Okay, come with me to the living room, we’re going to watch the single-best adaptation of Romeo and Juliet ever made.”

“But – the practice…” Jon looks a little helpless but he follows Lovett anyway, down the stairs and through the kitchen.

“Trust me, just do what Leo does in the balcony scene and you’ll be sure to score an A.” Lovett pauses. “Or at least a C.”

“That sounds _very_ reassuring.” Jon sits down on the couch, body a little tense as he tries to relax into his seat. “This - this is by the same guy who did that, uh, Great Gatsby movie, right?”

“Okay, you’ve seen the Great Gatsby movie but not Romeo and Juliet?”

“I am a man of many multitudes.” There’s a brief silence. “Tommy got sick so I had to take Hanna to see it.”

“You know what,” Lovett says, plopping into the seat beside him, “that sounds completely in character.”

*

 **Jon:** I had a great time today

yeah?

 **Jon:** I had no idea Harold Perrineau did a role like that

baz really just went there

 **Jon:** lol

 **Jon:** I’m actually kind of excited about tomorrow

you gonna wow us with your sudden burst of shakespearean prowess?

 **Jon:** I’m gonna think I am all the way until we’re up on stage and suddenly I’m gonna pass out

for a white dude with a charming smile you sure have some confidence issues

 **Jon:** you think I have a charming smile?

no

shut up

 **Jon:** :D

>:(

 **Jon:** Hey, I know you said you could do it, but do you think I could be Romeo instead?

you sure? he’s got more lines

 **Jon:** I’m sure

 **Jon:** Besides, my charming smile makes me more of a Romeo anyway

 **Jon:** ;)

i’m regretting my decision already

*

Jon’s on his phone when Lovett sets his bag on the desk beside him. His face is concentrated, brow furrowed, lips set together, and maybe somewhere in the middle of the mini-popcorn fight Lovett’s parents walked in on, Jon found his confidence.

“How you feeling?” Lovett asks.

“Well,” Jon says, slowly, drawing out the syllable. “I would rather write a ten-page speech in an hour than go up and do this.”

“Not a great comparison when you actively enjoy writing ten-page speeches, Jon.”

The late bell rings and Tapper claps his hands together, taking his seat behind his desk. “Okay, so, honor of being the first group to present goes to our very own Misters Favreau and Lovett.”

Lovett’s got his lines in the bag, but he’s not worried about himself. But maybe he’s not giving Jon enough credit – sure, the last time they did scenes in class he fumbled up his entire monologue and mumbled most of it to the floor, but this time he said he prepared and –

And then Jon gets down on one knee in front of Lovett. He looks up at him, into his eyes, a hand on his chest and he inhales loudly –

And then the door opens and some teacher Lovett vaguely recognizes as the cheerleading coach sticks his head in. “Hey, uh, hope I’m not interrupting…”

Tapper nearly falls over in his haste to get up from his chair. “No, no, no, not at all, uh…” he waves dismissively at Jon and Lovett. “Just wait here for a moment, I’ll be right back.”

Class disrupts into a jumble of whispers as soon as the door closes, but Jon stays in position, almost frozen in place. Lovett clears his throat. “You know, I probably should’ve mentioned this yesterday, but that movie flopped critically.”

The corners of Jon’s mouth quirk as he rolls his eyes. “ _Now_ you tell me.”

Tapper returns barely a second later, straightening his tie and clearing his throat a few times before speaking. “So, um, change of plans, we are not having an exam at this time. Feel free to use the rest of class time as free period.”

“Well.” Jon blinks a bit as Tapper closes the door behind him, and he takes Lovett’s hand as he gets up off the floor. “I was looking forward to showing you what I got.”

Lovett shrugs, “I mean, you could still show me what you got.” He still hasn’t let go of Jon’s hand, and though it takes him a few moments to notice, he throws him one of those dazzling smiles again. Gap tooth and all.

*

 **Spencer:** hey why do i have to hear from the grapevine that jon got down on his knees for you and then you two were caught making out in the bathrooms?

 **Spencer:** i see you leaving me on read!!!

 **Spencer:** i’m changing your name to Jackie O in my contacts now


End file.
